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Editor: Dennis D. Estopace• Friday, June 18, 2021 B3

₧242.25 billion in govt coffers via marking fuel

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

THE government has so far collected P242.25 billion in duties and taxes since the fuel marking program started in September 2019.

A total of 25.03 billion liters of fuel has been marked as of June 11, according to an infographic shared by the Department of Finance.

During the period, the Bureau of Customs collected duties and taxes amounting to P213.87 billion while the Bureau of Internal Revenue accounted for P28.39 billion.

Based on the numbers, the government was able to collect an average of P11.011 billion a month in the past 22 months of applying the fuel marking program. Also, based on the figures, the government was able to collect an average of about P9.68 in duties and taxes for every liter of fuel marked.

By fuel type, diesel comprised the bulk or 60.9 percent (15.25 billion liters) of the total marked-volume of fuel. It was followed by gasoline at 38.6 percent (9.65 billion liters) and kerosene at 0.5 percent (136.02 million liters).

Most of the fuel marked by the government was located in Luzon (73.36 percent or 18.37 billion liters). Trailing Luzon is Mindanao with 21.35 percent or 5.35 billion liters out of the total marked-volume of fuel followed by Visayas at 5.29 percent or 1.32 billion liters.

About 24 petroleum companies have so far participated in the fuel marking program.

Taking the lead was Petron Corp., cornering 22.36 percent (or 5.6 billion liters) of the total marked fuel.

Next is Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. with 19.31 percent (4.84 billion liters), Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc. with 10.33 percent (2.59 billion liters), Seaoil Philippines Inc. with 8.13 percent (2.03 billion liters) and Phoenix Petroleum Inc. with 7.94 percent (1.99 billion liters).

In February, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda revealed that the government lost P357 billion due to fuel smuggling from 2010 to 2019.

While fuel marking helped lower smuggling, foregone revenues are still rising, Salceda said, because the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law (Republic Act 10963) raised taxes on fuel products in 2018.

Fuel marking makes use of a unique chemical marker that can be embedded at a molecular level in petroleum products— gasoline, diesel, and kerosene—thereby enabling authorities to test, identify and distinguish petroleum products with paid excise taxes.

Under the Train law, petroleum products that are refined, manufactured, or imported to the Philippines such as, but not limited to, unleaded premium gasoline, kerosene and diesel, shall be marked by an official marking agent after payment of taxes and duties.

The fuel-marking program was launched with the aim of halting illegal importation, manufacturing, and other fraudulent activities relating to the use and sale of petroleum products in the country.

Walking in your members’ shoes

YOU may have encountered the phrase or expression “take a walk in your customer’s shoes.” Figuratively speaking, it means stepping into your customers’ world to understand and appreciate their needs and/or their pain points to serve them better. In the context of associations, we will change the word “customers” to “members” as members of an association are its main customers.

I recently attended a webinar entitled “Member Digital Journey” organized by Member Boat, an Australia-based digital marketing agency dedicated to helping associations in their digital transformation initiatives. It was presented by its founder and principal consultant, Olena Lima, who outlined a framework of a workbook called “member journey mapping,” a visual representation of what members go through from the moment they have first heard about your association to eventually becoming loyal and engaged volunteers and ambassadors.

To create a powerful and insightful “members map,” Olena cited the following steps, which I termed “Guider” for easy recall and reference: 1. G—Gather qualitative and quantitative data on your members such as digital data from your existing database, from your web site and from your social-media account.

For instance, analyzing your web site’s user flow or user experience is a critical step in data collection. Web sites are a great source of information about your members’ demographics, among others. Your membership team is also a rich data source since they talk to your members, listen to their feedback, and know their main pain points. You can also collect data from member surveys and forms they fill up. 2. U—Use the collected data to build your member persona which is a character derived from research insights, demographic data, and member interviews created to represent a common group of people. Unlike traditional member segments, personas have all human character-

istics and creating them helps you understand them better and, eventually, create a deeper connection with them with Association World an extensive understanding of their demographic profile, Octavio Peralta behaviors, and pain points. 3. I—Identify all your touch points with members, e.g., your web site, marketing channels (social media, print advertisement, e-mails, partnerships); direct interaction (landing pages, follow-up e-mails and marketing automation, call centre); customer service (purchase process, payment, cancellations, invoicing); indirect contacts (word of mouth, recommendation sand customer reviews). 4. D—Determine the different stages of the member journey, typically divided into six important stages—discovery, consideration, service use (trial), membership, retention, and advocacy/contribution—and analyze each of these to map your member’s journey with your association. 5. E—Experiment the member journey, identify the gaps, and address any issues. 6. R—Review, validate and repeat. “Walking in your members’ shoes” is mapping your member journey to better understand your members, as well as to personalise communication, content and offers based on where they are. Member journey mapping is a powerful tool your association can use to create a highly personalised member experience that makes a difference. The column contributor, Octavio ‘Bobby’ Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific, Founder & CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives and President of the Asia-Pacific Federation of Association Organizations. The purpose of PCAAE—the “association of associations”—is to advance the association management profession and to make associations well-governed and sustainable. PCAAE enjoys the support of Adfiap, the Tourism Promotions Board, and the Philippine International Convention Center. E-mail: obp@adfiap.org.